http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H A BootsnAll Travel Blog Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:08:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Gah!  I've gone and done exactly what I promised I wouldn't do - namely, get very behind again on this blog.  There's no new excuse, only the old one - that I'm having such a tremendous time in Malaysia, having fallen hook, line and sinker for the place.  So, with ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/cameron-highlands-strawberry-fields-forever.html Back in Nepal, we were reading our emails when Andy suddenly yelped and jumped a mile.  No, it's not one of his quirks; he'd just read an email from his brother Paul, casually dropping into the conversation that he and his wife Kenya were going on holiday to Kuala Lumpur ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/kuala-lumpur-little-fish-big-pond-small-world.html "More whisky!" shouted the row of guys sitting in front of us for the (thankfully shortish) flight from Delhi to Bangkok.  Before we'd even set off.  Yep, we had the good fortune to be sitting on the second row from the back, directly behind the Delhi equivalent of the lads' ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/bangkok-older-but-no-wiser.html We knew that after Nepal, we wanted to head down towards the south of Asia, through Malaysia and Indonesia before hitting Australia, and the easiest transport hub to head for was Bangkok. However, after a bit of googling, direct fares from Kathmandu to Bangkok were out of budget. ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/agra-all-you-need-is-love.html Before I came here, my image of Kathmandu was formed by seeing all those old hippy pictures from the 60s and 70s, long-haired folk in afghan coats, surrounded by the heavy fog of pot, maybe gently strumming a guitar as they hung out on the steps of Durbar Square, amazed ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/kathmandu-paradise-lost.html The small town of Bandipur is draped, according to the Lonely Planet, like a silk scarf along a high ridge in the hills of Nepal.   We were looking for our next destination in Nepal, after being scuppered trying to get to Tansen, and were sold straight away.  Well, nearly straight ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/bandipur-national-treasure.html I'm usually a fan of thunderstorms.  I love the charge and the excitement in the air, a reminder to us all that nature holds the ultimate power.  One of my favourite memories from childhood was at Center Parcs, watching a thunderstorm from inside our forest cabin with my brother.  Only ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/pokhara-hotel-california.html As the bus wound up and out of the Kathmandu valley, we were afforded glimpses of what drew countless travellers here in the past, believing it to be Shangri-La.  Nestled amongst the hills of the valley, the temples and houses must have seemed a miracle after the hard trek overland.  ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/pokhara-chillax.html Feeling ever-so-slightly trepidatious that we were about to board a flight with an airline that not only had we not heard of but neither had anyone we knew - Jet Airways - Andy and I swallowed our fears and got on the plane, waving a final farewell to the UK.  ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/kathmandu-do-or-dont.html When you have already said goodbye to your nearest and dearest for an extended period of time, you would think it makes it easier to do a second time.  Wrong. Instead, what happens is, for the last few days before separation, it's all you can think about.  If you do manage ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/the-hardest-word.html